The parents are making as big a fuss as they can about his death and the organs being removed so as to maximize any possible settlement.

It's just about money at this point.

Sorry about his death, but kids do stupid things. Unfortunately, sometimes with tragic consequences.

Like falling headfirst into a rolled up gym mat reaching for shoes? Still not buying it. How tall is this kid? How deep was the rolled up mat? How wide was it? Was it at all feasible to reach in, fitting in at least one arm, shoulder, head? No, it still doesn't make sense. And how did the shoes get placed by his feet which would be the end of the mat closest to the ceiling? Did they magically jump in after him?

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It looks deep enough for him to stand in. The mats at my high school were. At least 5 feet deep. Plenty of room to fall in to. Perhaps someone removed his shoes trying to pull him out. Or he could have kicked them off when he asphyxiated. Still thinkin the simplest answer fits this one. Once his hips went over the lip of the edge, he wouldn't have been able to back out. Like diving in a chimney head first.

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Makes no sense to me. Look at the size of the hole, a trainer would fall to the bottom! From the position of his feet it seems to be rather high and unlikely he could reach leaning on the top. So why would he dive head first with no way to get out. Surely just picking up the mat would give easier access to the shoe? Lets say it was too heavy (unlikely but let's just say it was) wouldn't he just unroll it??

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Kids that age have no idea of the consequences of their actions. (That part of your brain doesn't develop until the early twenties for most folks) I used to "surf" on top of my friends van. Easily could have killed me. Not something I thought about. He was an athlete and probably didn't think about not being able to get of something so simple to get in to. I am just saying, if you hear hoof-beats, think horses before zebras. What is the alternative? He was murdered on school property by a high school student or faculty member who stuffs the body in a mat, never attempts to move it, and doesn't implicate himself or raise suspicion from anybody? Possible, but far less plausible than a kid making a terrible error. It is natural to not want to accept a tragic accident. For death to be so "easy" doesnt feel right to us. It is the reason conspiracy theories spring up around every tragic event from 9/11 to Aurora, CO.

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Like falling headfirst into a rolled up gym mat reaching for shoes? Still not buying it. How tall is this kid? How deep was the rolled up mat? How wide was it? Was it at all feasible to reach in, fitting in at least one arm, shoulder, head? No, it still doesn't make sense. And how did the shoes get placed by his feet which would be the end of the mat closest to the ceiling? Did they magically jump in after him?

If you do enough 'mat diving', or other zany pursuits, you will eventually meet with a misadventure that may entail much more severe consequences than those for which you had bargained.

And this whether you "buy it" or not.

I consider 'mat diving' to be ill advised and cannot, therefore, recommend it.

Origami, for instance, would provide a much safer path. (Paper cuts aside, of course.)

Like falling headfirst into a rolled up gym mat reaching for shoes? Still not buying it. How tall is this kid? How deep was the rolled up mat? How wide was it? Was it at all feasible to reach in, fitting in at least one arm, shoulder, head? No, it still doesn't make sense. And how did the shoes get placed by his feet which would be the end of the mat closest to the ceiling? Did they magically jump in after him?

Why were there two pair of shoes?

I would have taken the white ones. They always look nicer and cleaner to me